


Crowned

by Kass



Category: Megillat Ester | Book of Esther
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 07:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13712655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kass/pseuds/Kass





	Crowned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mihrsuri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mihrsuri/gifts).



Hadas has always known that she is destined for greatness. When she was nine she saw a royal diadem in a dream and knew it would be hers one day. She never told anyone about the dream, but when word comes that marrigeable girls are called to the palace to audition to become queen, she feels certainty settle over her like a cloak.

When Uncle Mordechai cautions her not to tell anyone in the palace that she is a Jew, she knows it is time to discard her childhood name. No more will she be called Hadas, sweet like the myrtle. Now she will be _nistar_ , hidden. When she packs for the palace, she leaves her prayerbook behind.

She eats no meat in the harem, because she can't be certain of its provenance. She makes sure to befriend the cooks on her first day there, and to praise their cooking, and to bring them little sweets from the market. When Friday comes she tells them (not untruthfully) that she is homesick. She asks if they would prepare a bean stew, piled with scallions, cilantro, and dill from the palace gardens, adorned with wedges of kohlrabi. If they recognize _cholow nokhodow_ as a Jewish Sabbath dish, they don't say a word.

She almost feels sorry for the other girls as they primp and prepare: she knows that she will be the one the king chooses. Esther has her mother's clear olive skin and dark, graceful brows. She is as graceful as a young deer. These are not boasts; they are simply truth.

Besides, she knows that her dream of the crown came from the Holy One of Blessing, and that her ascension to the throne is foreordained. She doesn't know why this needs to be, but she knows that it needs to be.

When she is chosen, she knows that her uncle will be fearful for her. Esther is not afraid. As the attendants bathe and anoint her and clothe her in the finest robes, she feels God's presence around her like a shield. She knows she will be safe. She knows there is a reason all of this is coming to pass.

When they place the queen's diadem on her head, its weight feels familiar. Her dream has become real. What comes next, she isn't certain, but she is certain that when the time is right, there will be a sign. She trusts, and she waits to be shown the way.

 

_Classical midrash (interpretive story) regards Esther as a prophet. (See[Esther: Midrash and Aggadah](https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esther-midrash-and-aggadah) at the Jewish Women's Archive for citations.)_

 


End file.
